In a week when a spirited England team made an all too predictable exit from the World Cup (departing a tournament at the hands of the first genuinely good team they face a familiar tale) by sheer chance I stumbled upon the ITV documentary THE FOOTBALL MAVERICKS The 70s – the first episode of a three part series celebrating the careers of footballers whose individual brilliance, but refusal to conform, set them at odds with prevailing football trends of the time.
An hour later my brain had been wound back well past kick-off time of the England v Croatia World Cup Semi-Final of a few days earlier, ending up amidst the formative years of my football watching.
It was an era when the pitches were muddy and soft, defenders were rugged and hard – and a group of flamboyant, extravagantly gifted players stood out when practicality was the order of the day.
The dichotomy of the times was emphasized by the fact successive England managers overlooked the sublime talents of Rodney Marsh, Peter Osgood, Alan Hudson, Stan Bowles, Charlie George, Tony Currie and Frank Worthington as the national team failed to qualify for the 1974 and 1978 World Cup.
At this juncture my thoughts did drift back to England and the World Cup. But not events in Russia, more the halcyon summer of 1966, to where the documentary returns in exploring the origins of the maverick – making the argument they were a reaction to the low risk, pragmatic style of play that did indeed, bring football home.
The focus of this debate is Alf Ramsey who selected Geoff Hurst in preference to Jimmy Greaves for the latter stages of the tournament, thus sacrificing genius for the greater good.
Ramsey was vindicated for eternity when Hurst scored a match winning hat-trick in the final against West Germany. But his instinct in going for pragmatism over panache had also bore fruit in the 2-1 semi-final win over Portugal – from a possible scoring position Hurst delivers a pass to the even better placed Bobby Charlton who fires home his second goal.
In similar circumstances to Hurst would Greaves have shot for goal? Probably. Would he have scored ? In all likelihood – yes.
But who needed that discussion when Sir Alf had not only won the argument, but the World Cup to boot. It would, however, be the last time his conservative approach to team selection won the day.
When England left Wembley with the Jules Rimet trophy on the evening of July 30 1966 there may have been some who thought it was a victory for functionality over finesse, but London itself was fast becoming the epicentre of a burgeoning pop-art culture fueled by films, fashion and pop music.
It became only a matter of time before this new wave of modernism fused with football and by the following year George Best of Manchester United had become its first superstar. Blessed with a talent that almost defied belief – looking at footage that is now over fifty years old, it is still impossible not to marvel at his incredible balance. Off the pitch Best had the lifestyle, clothes and haircut of a pop star, entering a stratosphere of fame only The Beatles had previously occupied.
The ‘Maverick’ documentary makers cite him as the first maverick which is correct in terms of the trappings of fame (which would ultimately cost him his life), but as a footballer calling him such is misleading – as a prodigiously talented seventeen year old, he entered a Manchester United team that in Bobby Charlton and Denis Law contained at least two world class players.
While Best developed into the greatest British footballer certainly of my lifetime, there were top drawer performers around him – the superb Manchester United side of that period much more than simply the George Best Show. Only when that team began to break up did Best become more individualistic, the failure to properly replace great players that had been around him the fault of the club not his – but one that did impact on his messy, mid-70s departure from Old Trafford.
Given that Best was such an incredibly gifted player it does beg the hypothetical question that had he been Bury rather than Belfast born, how Sir Alf would have integrated Best into the England team of that period.
With Ramsey still placing his faith in the rigid 4-4-2 formation that turned his side into World Champions, there would have been no room for anything off the cuff, so we can safely say Best for all his genius would have had to suit the system rather than vice-versa – a state of affairs that has spelt dilemma for England down the years, as one manager after another has had neither the confidence or desire to build a team around a virtuoso talent.
An obvious case in point is Glenn Hoddle, who makes a telling comment in the documentary:
‘It’s unbelievable someone like Alan Hudson didn’t get sixty or seventy England caps – but I’m also sure if Maradona had been English he wouldn’t have been the first name on the team sheet.’
By the time England crashed out of the 1970 Mexico World Cup, losing 3-2 to West Germany at the quarter-final stage, Hudson had begun to earn rave notices for Chelsea and although not a part of their FA Cup winning team of that year (missing both the Wembley final and Old Trafford replay through injury), he was quickly becoming a key figure in an exciting Stamford Bridge side that also contained Peter Osgood – at the time arguably the most complete centre-forward in the country.
Osgood had been selected by Ramsey for Mexico, coming on as a substitute in two group games to spend only 40 minutes on the pitch. But if Osgood and Hudson planned on being part of a post-Mexico England rebuilding process, they were to be sadly mistaken – Osgood winning only one further cap in adding to the three already gained.
Hudson meanwhile was to win only two, both of which came five years later under Don Revie, who succeeded Ramsey as manager in 1974 after England had failed to qualify for the World Cup of that year.
On his England debut against reigning World Champions West Germany in March 1975 Hudson, (now playing for Stoke City) illuminated Wembley with a stunning display, playing a decisive role in the 2-0 victory – which appeared not only to make him a mainstay in the England team, but also expose the folly of leaving him in the cold for so long.
But Revie, like Ramsey, was reluctant to put his faith in one so mercurial. Despite the fact England were a lesser entity without him, Hudson was henceforth dispatched to the international wilderness where in joining Osgood he also found the wonderfully gifted Rodney Marsh (QPR/Manchester City) who Ramsey had reluctantly selected on the back of newspaper pressure, played out of position, then discarded.
In similar fashion Revie dealt with Charlie George, a double winner with Arsenal in 1971 – and producing such brilliant form at that time he should have been an England shoe in – his mere 64 minutes in an England shirt coming whilst a Derby County player four years later.
The international career of Leicester City striker Frank Worthington lasted the six months between May and November 1974 when he won six caps, Revie deciding just two matches into his tenure he could do without this deft, intuitive forward – Worthington left to outsmart first division defences and pile up goals as England floundered in their attempts to qualify for the 1976 European Championships.
Revie jumped ship a year later to manage the UAE national team on the back of a nine game run that yielded only two wins, leaving England on the brink of their failure to qualify for the 1978 World Cup.
When Revie was appointed to the England job the most exciting midfield player in the country was Stan Bowles of Queens Park Rangers, but five caps over three years does no justice to his undoubted creativity and although Tony Currie (Sheffield United/Leeds United) fared a little better with his seventeen in seven seasons, it was scant reward for a player blessed with some of the most eye-catching skill ever possessed by an English midfielder.
So if these players were so gifted how come they did not ingratiate themselves to Ramsey and Revie, who let us not forget were there to be judged on results?
In the case of Sir Alf, who gave England debuts to Osgood, Marsh and Currie, these were players for whom the tried and tested World Cup winning model was far too restrictive.
But rather than break with formula, Ramsey chose to persevere with ideas that had become outdated – the painful truth never more evident than when England were outclassed by West Germany in a first-leg European Championship quarter-final at Wembley in 1972, the Germans having no trouble merging the classy Gunter Netzer (a maverick if ever there was one) into their side as they gave England a lesson in progressive football.
Trailing 3-1 in heading to Berlin for the second leg a fortnight later, Ramsey picked the most unimaginative team he could have come up with – and yes England avoided defeat by virtue of a turgid 0-0 draw, but at least selecting Osgood, Marsh, Currie and Hudson would have been a statement of intent for the years to come and made qualification for the 1974 World Cup the formality it should have been.
If anything Revie was even more skeptical of the wild card element and in an era of ‘Rebel Rebel‘ put his faith firmly in ‘Mr Pleasant.’ There is no doubt how the mavericks wore their hair, dressed and sometimes behaved off the field went against them – Ramsey and Revie both on the other side of the generational gap in terms of how a crop of modern creative players played the game and lived their lives.
Revie took charge of England after thirteen years managing Leeds United, who played a hybrid of brutal, often brilliant football that won trophies but few admirers beyond Elland Road – a team whose admirable collective strength was based on defiance and not so admirable engagement in dark arts.
But at the same time it incorporated the exceptional skills of Scottish winger Eddie Gray – so if Revie could find room for Gray at Leeds, then why couldn’t he indulge Hudson with a run in the England team?
After the FA lured Revie away, Leeds replaced him with managerial maverick Brian Clough, who in no time brought the immensely gifted Nottingham Forest free spirit Duncan McKenzie to Elland Road, but neither lasted long in West Yorkshire.
Clough, the very antithesis of Revie, reigned for just 44 days and although McKenzie stayed almost two years, he was the sort of player Revie would never have put faith in let alone sign – ignoring huge clamour for Mackenzie to be given an international call-up during his time as England manager.
The ‘Football Mavericks‘ documentary was first aired in 2015, no doubt made after the poor showing by England at the World Cup of the previous year to remind many and perhaps inform some of a time when England were even less successful – but at least had fabulous home grown players lighting up the domestic stage.
At the end of the programme Glenn Hoddle remarks: ‘Why have not won the World Cup since 1966? Because we don’t trust players like Alan Hudson and Tony Currie.’
So even after a far more successful campaign for England this time round the message remains the same – in flair players we have to trust.
This article was first published on 20/7/2018.
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NEIL SAMBROOK is also the author of MONTY’S DOUBLE – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and an Amazon Kindle book.
You put Charlie George twice!
Excellent spot Sir – that’s a Moscatel I owe you!! Duly amended.